The beauty of Raja Ampat Islands

HOME'S NEWS IRFAN -Raja Ampat Islands is a great potential to serve as a tourist attraction, especially the dive. Raja Ampat Islands waters according to various sources, is one of the 10 best waters for diving sites around the world. In fact, it may also be recognized as number one for the completeness of underwater flora and fauna at this time.
Dr. John Veron, coral experienced experts from Australia, for example, in a site it is revealed that, Raja Ampat Islands located at the westernmost tip of New Guinea, about 50 miles northwest of Sorong, has the best reef areas in Indonesia. Approximately 450 species of coral had been identified during the two weeks of research in that area.

A team of experts from Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and the National Institute of Oceanography (LON) Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) have done a quick assessment in 2001 and 2002. As a result, they noted in these waters there are more than 540 hard coral species (75% of the total species in the world), more than 1,000 types of reef fish, 700 species of mollusks, and the highest record for gonodactyloid stomatopod crustaceans. This makes 75% of the world's coral species in Raja Ampat. Nowhere the same area has a number of coral species as much as this.

There are some coral reefs are still very good condition with the percentage of live coral cover by 90%, which is in the Dampier Strait (the strait between P. and P. Waigeo Batanta), Kofiau Islands, and South East Misool Kepualauan Wayag Islands. Types of coral reefs in Raja Ampat is generally fringing reef with gentle slope to steep contour. But it also found atoll type and type of burns or taka. In some places, such as in the village Saondarek, when the lowest tides, coral reefs can be seen without a dive and the adaptation itself, corals can still be alive despite being in the open air and direct sunlight.Unique species that can be found when diving is some kind of pigmy seahorse or kudalaut mini, wobbegong and manta ray. There are also endemic fish Raja Ampat, namely Eviota king, which is a kind of fish gobbie. At Manta Point supernal Arborek Dampier Strait, you can dive in the company of some tail Manta Ray benign like when you dive Derawan Islands, East Kalimantan. If diving in Cape Kri or Chicken Reef, you can be surrounded by thousands of fish. Sometimes a collection of tuna, giant trevallies and snappers. But a tense when we are surrounded by a collection of barracuda fish, even though it is relatively harmless (dangerous if we see barracuda solitary or alone). Reef sharks are also frequently seen, and if you are lucky you can also see the turtles were quietly eating sponge or swim around you. In some places, such as in Salawati, Batanta and Waigeo also seen Dugong or sea cow.Because of the many local islands and narrow straits, then most of the dive at any given time has a strong current. It is also possible to do a drift dive, dive while the flow is fast with very clear water while fishing through the collection. There is also a sunken aircraft of World War II relics that can be found in several places makes a nice dive to wreck dive as in P. Wai. And much more real coral reef sites have not been touched. This makes diving in Raja Ampat was more challenging.